Daring to DREAM
Coyle insists next target is Championship title
THE last time Queen’s Park played in Scotland’s top flight, the Spiders finished below Queen of the South, East Fife, and Third Lanark, Queen Elizabeth had only been on the throne for five years and Blue Peter was in the production stage at the BBC.
Barring an extraordinary turn of events, not everything will pan out quite the same the next time around, which could be much sooner than even the most ardent of the Lesser Hampden faithful could ever have dreamed of.
For the first time since the early 1980s, Queen’s Park will play second-tier football next season after overcoming Airdrieonians in the League One play-offs. Simon Murray’s 112th-minute penalty was enough to seal back-to-back promotions, justifying the call to shift their 152-year amateur status and cash in on Hampden Park.
But just what comes next for the ambitious Southsiders? For manager Owen Coyle, a first top flight adventure since 1958 is firmly in his sights.
“We want to get into the Premiership, like any team in the Championship next year,” Coyle, who doesn’t officially start until June but arrived back from India early to help oversee their play-off triumph, said. “Are we able to do that in one step? That’s a big, big ask. But it won’t be for a lack of effort.
“What we have is a plan and a vision for many years. The basis of that will be young players. If you look at it, yes there has been some fantastic backing, but it’s not a case of Queen’s Park spending money out of the ordinary. Far from it.”
Coyle added: “We have good people. I know we’ve gone from amateur to professional but it’s still the same core principles and people. We still want the same thing.
“People will say we don’t have the most supporters in the world but the ones that were here made so much noise. That’s what I love, when smaller clubs get their day in the sun. But we don’t want to stop now.”
One rather key thing to Queen’s Park’s success will be where they play their games next season. Since selling Hampden Park, they’ve found themselves homeless while Lesser Hampden is transformed, spending last year at Partick Thistle’s Firhill.
However, given the difficulties faced by a pitch (more regularly described as a tattie field) struggling to cope with games every week, that won’t be happening this time around. But there could be some unexpectedly good news for Spiders fans, who otherwise would be bracing themselves for “home matches” at Broadwood or, ironically, New Broomfield.
“My understanding is they are pushing for Lesser to be ready for the first league game,” Coyle said. “We’d maybe look to play the League Cup games somewhere else.
“That’s the plan and God willing it comes to fruition.
“Rocking up at Lesser Hampden with that new, terrific pitch – it’ll be a hybrid surface and brilliant to play on. It’s beautiful. For anyone in the Championship, they are going to love playing on it.”